A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a master gear, more specifically, a master gear for a spinning reel that is rotatably supported by portions of a reel main body of the spinning reel for transmitting a rotational movement from a handle attached to the master gear to a rotor via a pinion gear.
B. Description Of Related Art
A spinning reel generally includes a reel main body that is attachable to a fishing rod, a rotor rotatably supported by the reel main body, and a spool disposed on a front side of the rotor, the spool having an outer peripheral portion about which a fishline is wound. The rotor rotates together with a pinion gear that is disposed on an outer periphery of a spool shaft. The spool is moved back and forth repeatedly by an oscillating mechanism which has an intermediate gear adapted to engage the pinion gear. The pinion gear also engages a master gear which has a shaft portion perpendicular to the pinion gear. The handle is coupled to the shaft portion of the master gear. When the handle is rotated, the rotational movement is transmitted through master gear to the pinion gear and then to the oscillating mechanism. The master gear has a face gear portion on an outer periphery thereof that engages the pinion gear.
In a large spinning reel, the handle is typically attached to the shaft portion of the master gear via threads formed within one end of the shaft portion of the master gear, such that the durability of the shaft portion is maintained and rattling is prevented. If the shaft portion, into which the handle is threaded, is made of an aluminum or zinc alloy, the threads of the shaft portion may not be rigid enough to withstand repeated attachment and detachment of the handle. Specifically, the shaft portion may experience pre-mature wear. As a result, conventional large spinning reels have a face gear portion and a shaft portion formed integrally by forging brass, or by inserting a shaft portion made of a stainless alloy in a metal template and thereafter die casting a face gear portion by injection molding a zinc.